#ThrowbackThursday: “Rhythm of the Night” by DeBarge, The First Hit Penned By Diane Warren
by Sean Smith
Last Thursday marked 30 years to the day since the Motown group DeBarge released their popular single “Rhythm of the Night”. This song was not only a big success for the sibling soul group, but it also played a big role in the career of its writer, one Diane Warren. “Rhythm of the Night” is widely credited for being the song that helped break her career.
Wow crazy, 30 years ago this wk I had my 1st big hit Debarge "Rhythm Of The Night" of course I wrote it when I was 5 :O)
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) April 28, 2015
Diane Warren is arguably one of the top songwriter’s of her generation. The artists who she has written songs for reads like a who’s who of the music business that stretches across both multiple decades and genres. She has written for everyone from KISS to Justin Bieber, and seemingly everyone in between. The reason Diane Warren has written for so many artists is because her lyrics are in high demand, largely due to the track record of success Warren has in penning hit songs. In 1995 she wrote “Un-Break My Heart”, which Toni Braxton would later sing to the top of the charts. In 1989 she wrote “Blame it on the Rain”, which Milli Vanilli would lip-sync all the way to number one. And the list goes on and on.
Toni Braxton
“Un-Break My Heart”
From Secrets
LaFace/Arista Records
Starship
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”
From 1987’s Mannequin/No Protection
20th Century Fox/Grunt/RCA Records
“Because You Loved Me”
From Up Close And Personal Soundtrack/Falling Into You (1996)
Touchstone Pictures/Columbia/Epic Records
“How Do I Live”
From Con Air (1997)
Touchstone Pictures/Hollywood Records
LeAnn Rimes
“How Do I Live”
From You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs
Curb Records
Aerosmith
“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”
From Armageddon: The Album
Hollywood/Columbia Records
In light of the fact that last week marked the 30th anniversary of the release of the Diane Warren penned “Rhythm of the Night” by DeBarge, this week we remember that song as well as the illustrious songwriting career of Diane Warren. Enjoy!
